3 days after surgery!!!

Feb 01, 2010

Hi everyone,
sorry I did not post earlier, but it has been like a whirlwind.  Paige and I had our surgery on Friday with Dr Almanza.  I am so excited to be on the losers bench, but had a very interesting experiance getting there.  First off I want to say that the staff at the Jerusalem Medical center could not have been nicer or more patient.  They really try to make you feel at home and keep you safe and healthy.  One thing you have to remember when you get there is this is not the USA, so things are quite differant.  Although I am not so sure that it is all a bad thing.  We do have quite a bit of overkill here in the US at times.  Our surgery was to be early friday morning but they had a delay due to some issues the day before getting backed up with patients.  So I went in around 3 and was done in 90 minutes, no problems... Dr Betancort was a saviour with the pain shot!!!  After the shot I was feeling no pain.  Really for me the first evening I was thinking, "what the hell did I get myself into", was scared for a bit with the pain and the fact that Paige went into surgery at 4:30 and was still in there at 9:00, she had some issues since she was so young, her area to work in was much tighter than us older gals, so Dr Almanza had to take more time to get it done.  Also her IV came out and she was very dehydrated so they spent an hour trying to get one in again.  After she came out of surgery I was woke up by her getting sick and crying, I heard it from upstairs through two closed doors.  They were trying to keep me from hearing her so that I would not do what any other mom would do, go downstairs to see her!  So I did limp down there and see what was going on, at this point she had pulled her IV out again, so her poor nurse spent two patient hours working on getting one back in.  They finally got one in her foot... but after that she was moved upstairs, she had a really bad night... reaction to the Anesthesia threw up all night.  By the next morning she had a fever, and I was doing better, I felt bad, wished we could have switched places... but the nurses and doctors nursed her back.  I was recovering just fine, aside from the gas pains... Whew be pre-pared for that.  It is good to have someone with you to pat your back like a baby, it really helps.  Gas x strips help a bit as well.  You must walk though, up and down the stairs is best.  That makes the gas move out quickest.  We spent two days in the hospital.  Had a great time with the staff.  My sister and friend that came with us, got no sleep, they were busy attending to us.  I HIGHLY recommend bringing someone with you, you need the help... They have hired someone Rafeal that speaks english at night so it is not as bad as I have heard before.  We decided to leave early by a day and head back to the US.  My sister was with us and since she is a Doctor, she took our drains out.  The ride across the border to return to the US is over 1-3 hours depending on the day and time you have to go.  The recovery house is nice, but very cold.  Terry will make you feel like family.  I have to say the experiance was very good, and I would definately go back there for my plastics!!!  Dr Almanza did a great job, he is a pro at the surgery so no fears!.. If you have any questions feel free to PM me, and remember after the first day it gets better!!!  I have no trouble drinking water or anything for that matter.  I have eaten soup and yogurt, so no pain.  It is just hard to believe a whole week went by with only a few calories and we were not hungry at all.  Today was the first time I felt like I needed to eat for my body.  Drink your water though, dehydration = head ache that will not go away!!!

So happy with my sleeve!!!!!!!

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